History[edit]
Previously, although the St. Louis Rams were geographically farther
east than Dallas before moving back to Los Angeles, the Cowboys
remained in the
NFC East despite being the only team located in the
Central Time Zone and the Rams stayed in the
NFC West because of
long-standing rivalries: the Cowboys with all three other teams in the
East, and the Rams with the
San Francisco 49ersSan Francisco 49ers in the West.
The
NFC East teams have combined to be the most successful division in
the NFL since the 1970 NFL merger with 21 NFC Championship wins and 13
Super BowlSuper Bowl victories, the highest marks of any division in the NFL.
Each of the current NFC East's four teams has won at least three NFL
Championships during their existence, and it is currently the only
division whose teams have all won a Super Bowl. The division features
a number of prominent rivalries such as the Cowboys–Redskins rivalry
and Eagles–Giants rivalry. Because the division's teams are in some
of the United States' largest media markets (New York No. 1,
Philadelphia, No. 4, Dallas-Fort Worth No. 5, and Washington No. 8),
the
NFC East receives a high amount of coverage from national sports
media outlets.[1] In the early 1990s the division claimed four
consecutive
Super BowlSuper Bowl champions, all 4 against the Buffalo Bills,
with the Giants and Redskins respectively winning back-to-back in
Super Bowls XXV and XXVI; and the Cowboys winning twice after in Super
Bowls XXVII and XXVIII. Those same three teams won seven out of ten
Super Bowls, from 1986-87 to 1995-96 (49ers won the other three).
The
Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Eagles are the only
NFC East team to play in the city
of the team's naming, Philadelphia.[2] The other three teams play in
suburbs of the major cities they are named after. The Dallas Cowboys
play in Arlington, Texas.[3] The
Washington RedskinsWashington Redskins play in Landover,
Maryland[4] and the
New York GiantsNew York Giants play in East Rutherford, New
Jersey,[5] where they share a stadium with the New York Jets. The only
two other teams not from either East division to do so is the NFC
West's
San FranciscoSan Francisco 49ers, who started playing in the San Francisco
suburb of Santa Clara in 2014, and the Arizona Cardinals, who play in
the Phoenix suburb of Glendale.
The
NFC East can also be called the most valuable NFL Division. All
four teams in the division are in the top ten of most valuable NFL
franchises (Cowboys #1; Giants #3; Redskins #4; Eagles #10).[6] The
next closest division is the AFC North, which is not completed until
the 26th ranked Cincinnati Bengals.[7]
Division lineups[edit]
Place cursor over year for division champ or
Super BowlSuper Bowl team.

* A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games.
Thus, the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for
this year. Division standings were ignored; Washington had the best
record of the division teams and won the Super Bowl.
++ The 1987 Redskins are the only NFC 3rd Seed to win the Super
Bowl.[9]
^ The 2007
Dallas CowboysDallas Cowboys were defeated by division rival and NFC 5th
Seed New York Giants, who ultimately won
Super BowlSuper Bowl XLII.
# The 2011
New York GiantsNew York Giants are the only sub-10-win team to win the
Super BowlSuper Bowl (other than the 1982 Redskins listed above), as well as the
only team to win the
Super BowlSuper Bowl as the NFC's 4th Seed.[9]

All four teams in the
NFC East have won the Super Bowl. The Cowboys
lead with five, followed by the Giants with four, the Redskins with
three, and the Eagles with one. In overall NFL history, however, the
Giants lead with eight league championships, followed by the Redskins
and Cowboys with five each, then the Eagles with four.
There have been two division sweeps of the
NFC East Division, the 1998
Dallas CowboysDallas Cowboys (8–0) and the 2004
Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Eagles (6–0). [8]
Wild Card qualifiers[edit]

This article needs to be updated. Please update this article to
reflect recent events or newly available information. (September 2016)

+ A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games,
so the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this
year.
** The 2007
New York GiantsNew York Giants are the only
NFC East team to win a Super
Bowl as a Wild Card team, and the only NFL team in history to win the
Super BowlSuper Bowl as a 5th Seed in either Conference.[9]